New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave on a four-day trip on Saturday to strengthen bilateral ties with Uzbekistan and attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kyrgyzstan.
The first leg of the visit will take Modi to Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent from August 29-30 for meetings with the country’s top leadership to strengthen ties in diverse sectors, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are among the leaders expected to attend the summit, which will mark the 25th anniversary of the SCO, which India joined as a full member in 2017. Modi will hold bilateral meetings with SCO leaders on the margins of the summit. In Uzbekistan, which Modi is visiting for the fourth time, he will hold talks with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership.
The PM will then travel to the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek for two days to attend the SCO Summit, which is expected to focus on the evolving security scenario in the region, the ministry said. During his address at the summit, Modi will highlight India’s priorities such as security, connectivity and opportunity, the ministry said. The SCO was established with the primary goal of countering terror, separatism and extremism, which remain a challenge, Sibi George, secretary (West) in the ministry, told a media briefing. People familiar with the matter said Putin is among the leaders with whom Modi will hold bilateral meetings. The leaders will review cooperation in trade and investment, defence, digital connectivity, energy, education and people-to-people ties, the ministry said.
